Existing connectors used to connect ribbon cables having a series of parallel conductors covered by a sheath of insulating material to a printed circuit board typically are of the pin and socket type. These connectors employ header pins connected to either the conductors of the cable or the printed circuit board and metal sockets connected to the remaining member.
This typical construction requires a large mass of metal in the construction of the pin and socket contacts and results in cross talk between the signals conducted because of the size and proximity of the radiating contact surfaces. Connector size is necessarily large to accommodate pins and sockets, and it is difficult to reduce the distance between adjacent contact elements and thus the overall footprint of the connector on the printed circuit board.